Sichuan Province
Chinese : 四川省 Sìchuān Shěng
Abbreviations: 川/蜀  (pinyin: Chuān or Shǔ)
Origin of name	Short for 川峡四路 chuānxiá sìlù literally "The Four Circuits of the Rivers and Gorges", referring to the four circuits during the Song Dynasty. Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use In Law, a circuit is an appellate judicial district used in the Court systems of several nations The Song Dynasty ( Wade-Giles: Sung Ch'ao was a ruling dynasty in China between 960&ndash1279 CE it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
Administration type	Province
Capital (and largest city)	Chengdu
CPC Ctte Secretary	Liu Qibao
Governor	Jiang Jufeng
Area	485,000 km² (187,000 sq mi) (5th)
Population (2004)  - Density	87,250,000 (3rd) 180 /km² (470 /sq mi) (22nd)
GDP (2006)  - per capita	CNY 863. A province, in the context of China, is a translation of sheng ( which is an administrative division ( located in southwest People's Republic of China, is the capital of Sichuan province and a Sub-provincial city. The Communist Party of China ( CPC) ( also known as the Chinese Communist Party ( CCP) is the founding and ruling political party of the A committee (some of which are titled instead as a "Commission" or other terms discussed below in) is a type of small Deliberative assembly that is usually intended Liu Qibao ( Chinese: 刘奇葆 born 1953 is a Chinese Politician. Jiang Jufeng ( Chinese: 蒋巨峰 Pinyin: Jiǎng Jùfēng born 1948 is a Chinese Politician and governor of Sichuan. Area is a Quantity expressing the two- Dimensional size of a defined part of a Surface, typically a region bounded by a closed Curve. This is a list of the first-level administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China (PRC including all provinces autonomous regions special administrative In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Population density (in agriculture standing stock and Standing crop) is a measurement of Population per unit area or unit volume This is a list of the first-level administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China (PRC including all provinces autonomous regions municipalities This articles lists of the first-level administrative divisions of People's Republic of China (P Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. 8 billion (9th) CNY 10,574 (25th)
HDI (2005)	0. This is a list of the first-level administrative divisions of Mainland China (including all provinces autonomous regions and municipalities in order of their total Gross This is a list of the first-level administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China (PRC including all provinces autonomous regions and municipalities in order of The Human Development Index ( HDI) is an index combining normalized measures of Life expectancy, Literacy, Educational attainment, and GDP Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 728 (medium) (25th)
Major nationalities	Han - 95% Yi - 2. The following is a list of ethnic groups in China where "China" is taken to mean areas controlled by either of the two states using "China" in their formal Han Chinese ( are an Ethnic group native to China and by most modern definitions the largest single Ethnic group in the world. The Yi people (own name in the Liangshan dialect ꆈꌠ official transcription Nuosu, nɔ̄sū; the older name " Lolo " or " Luoluo " 6% Tibetan - 1. The Tibetan people are indigenous to Tibet and surrounding areas stretching from Central Asia in the North and West to Myanmar and China Proper 5% Qiang - 0. 4%
Prefecture-level	21 divisions
County-level	181 divisions
Township-level†	5011 divisions
ISO 3166-2	CN-51
Official website http://www.sichuan.gov.cn/ (Simplified Chinese)
Source for population and GDP data: 《中国统计年鉴—2005》 China Statistical Yearbook 2005 ISBN 7503747382 Source for nationalities data: 《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》 Tabulation on nationalities of 2000 population census of China ISBN 7105054255 † As at December 31, 2004

Sichuan (help·info) (Chinese: 四川; pinyin: Sìchuān; Postal map spelling: Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in western China with its capital at Chengdu. Prefecture, in the context of China, is used to refer to several unrelated political divisions in both ancient and modern China. In the context of Political divisions of China, county is the standard English translation of 县 ( xiàn) Township ( is the basic level of political divisions in China. ISO 3166-2 is the second part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO Events 406 – Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use Chinese Postal Map Romanization ( Traditional Chinese: 郵政式拼音 Simplified Chinese: 邮政式拼音 Pinyin: Yóuzhèngshì Pīnyīn refers to the A province, in the context of China, is a translation of sheng ( which is an administrative division China proper (also known as Inner China) refers to the historical lands of China where the Han Chinese are the majority Ethnic group, in contrast ( located in southwest People's Republic of China, is the capital of Sichuan province and a Sub-provincial city. The current name of the province, 四川 (Sìchuān), is an abbreviation of 四川路 (Sì Chuānlù), or "Four circuits of rivers", which is itself abbreviated from 川峡四路 (Chuānxiá Sìlù), or "Four circuits of rivers and gorges", named after the division of the existing circuit into four during the Northern Song Dynasty. In Law, a circuit is an appellate judicial district used in the Court systems of several nations The Song Dynasty ( Wade-Giles: Sung Ch'ao was a ruling dynasty in China between 960&ndash1279 CE it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms ^[1]

History

The territory of the province and its vicinity were the cradle of unique local civilizations, which can be dated back to at least the fifteenth century BC (coinciding with the later years of Shang Dynasty). The Shang Dynasty ( Chinese: 商[[wiktionary 朝|朝]] or Yin Dynasty ( 殷[[wiktionary 代|代]] was according to traditional sources the Beginning from the ninth century BC, Shu (today Chengdu) and Ba (today Chongqing City) emerged as cultural and administrative centers where two rival kingdoms were established. The 9th century BC started the first day of 900 BC and ended the last day of 801 BC Shu ( 蜀) was an ancient state in what is now Sichuan, China. ( located in southwest People's Republic of China, is the capital of Sichuan province and a Sub-provincial city. Ba (巴 was an ancient state in eastern Sichuan, China. Its original capital was Zhi ( Fuling) Chongqing. Chongqing ( Postal map spelling: Chungking; Wade-Giles: Ch'ung-ch'ing) is the largest and most populous of the People's Republic of China

Shu's existence was unknown until an archaeological discovery in 1986 at a small village named Sanxingdui (三星堆 Sān Xīng Duī) in Guanghan County. Sanxingdui ( is the name of an Archaeological site in China, now believed to be the site of an ancient Chinese city A county is a Land area of Regional Government within a larger State. It is believed to be an ancient city of the Shu Kingdom, where excavations have yielded invaluable archaeological information.

Although the Qin Dynasty destroyed the civilizations of Shu and Ba, their cultures were preserved and inherited by people in Sichuan until today. Not to be confused with the Qing Dynasty, the last dynasty of China The Qin government accelerated the technological and agricultural advancements of Sichuan making it comparable to that of the Huang He (Yellow River) Valley. The Yellow River or Huang He / Hwang Ho ( Hatan Gol Queen river) is the second-longest river in China (after the Yangtze River) and the The Dujiangyan Irrigation System, built in the 3rd century BC under the inspection of Li Bing, was the symbol of modernization of that period. Dujiangyan ( is an Irrigation infra-structure built in 256 BC during the Warring States Period of China by the Kingdom of Qin Li Bing ( c 3rd century BCE) was a Chinese administrator and engineer of the Warring States period Composed of a series of dams, it redirected the flow of the Min Jiang, a major tributary of the Yangtze River, to fields, relieving the damage of seasonal floods. A dam is a barrier that divides waters. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water while other structures such as Floodgates, Levees The Min River ( 岷 江 Pinyin: Mín Jiāng is a 735km-long River in central Sichuan province China. A tributary is a Stream or River which flows into a mainstem (or parent river The construction and various other projects greatly increased the harvest of the area which thus became the main source of provisions and men for Qin's unification of China.

Various ores were abundant. Adding to its significance, the area was also on the trade route from the Huang He Valley to foreign countries of the southwest, especially India. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country

The area's military importance matches its commercial and agricultural significance. As a basin surrounded by the Himalayas to the west, the Qinling Range to the north, and mountainous areas of Yunnan to the south, Sichuan is prone to fog. The Qinling Mountains ( are a major Mountain range located mainly in the Eastern province of Shaanxi, in China. Since the Yangtze flows through the basin and is thus upstream of eastern China, navies could be easily sailed downstream. Therefore Sichuan was the base for numerous amphibious military forces and also served as the refuge of Chinese governments throughout history. A few independent regimes were founded; the most famous was Shu Han of the Three Kingdoms. Shu Han ( Traditional Chinese: 蜀漢 Pinyin: Shǔ Hàn sometimes known as the Kingdom of Shu (蜀 shǔ was one of the Three Kingdoms competing The Three Kingdoms period ( is a period in the History of China, part of an era of disunity called the Six Dynasties following immediately the loss of The Jin Dynasty first conquered Shu Han on its path of unification. The Jìn Dynasty ( 265 – 420) one of the Six Dynasties, followed the Three Kingdoms period and preceded the Southern and Northern Dynasties During the Tang Dynasty, it was a battlefront against Tibet. The Tang Dynasty ( Middle Chinese: dhɑng (June 18 618&ndashJune 4 907 was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by Definitions of Tibet See also Definitions of Tibet Name In English The English word Tibet, like the word for Tibet in most European

The Southern Song Dynasty established coordinated defenses against the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty in Sichuan and Xiangyang. The Song Dynasty ( Wade-Giles: Sung Ch'ao was a ruling dynasty in China between 960&ndash1279 CE it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms The Yuan Dynasty ( Pinyin: Yuáncháo Dai Ön Ulus (Дай Юан Улс was a ruling Dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Xiangyang ( Traditional Chinese: 襄陽 Simplified Chinese: 襄阳 Pinyin: Xiāngyáng was a Chinese city famous for the Siege of Xiangyang The line of defense was finally broken through after the first use of firearms in history during the six-year siege of Xiangyang, which ended in 1273. A firearm is a Tool that projects either single or multiple Projectiles at high velocity through a controlled explosion The Battle of Xiangyang ( Chinese: 襄陽之戰 was a six-year battle between invading Yuan Dynasty armies founded by Mongols and Southern Song forces between In the 20th century, the foggy climate hindered the accuracy of Japanese bombing of the basin and the city of Chongqing, where the capital of the Republic of China had been relocated during World War II. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Chongqing ( Postal map spelling: Chungking; Wade-Giles: Ch'ung-ch'ing) is the largest and most populous of the People's Republic of China REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

The Leshan Giant Buddha of Mount Emei, built during the latter half of the Tang Dynasty (618–907). The Leshan Giant Buddha ( was built during the Tang Dynasty ( 618 - 907) Omei Shan redirects here For the bird see Grey-faced Liocichla Mount Emei ( literally towering Eyebrow Mountain) is a Mountain in The Tang Dynasty ( Middle Chinese: dhɑng (June 18 618&ndashJune 4 907 was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by

During the Ming Dynasty major architectural works were created in Sichuan. The Ming Dynasty ( or Empire of the Great Ming ( was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol -led Bao'en Temple is a well-preserved fifteenth century monastery complex built between 1440 and 1446 during Emperor Yingzong's reign (1427-64) in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Bao'en Temple (also known as Bao'en Monastery is a well-preserved fifteenth century Buddhist Monastery complex located in northwestern Sichuan province The Ming Dynasty ( or Empire of the Great Ming ( was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol -led Dabei Hall enshrines a thousand-armed wooden image of Guanyin and Huayan Hall is a repository with a revolving sutra cabinet. Guanyin (觀音 pinyin guānyīn, Wade-Giles kuan-yin) is the Bodhisattva of compassion as venerated by East Asian Buddhists The wall paintings, sculptures and other ornamental details are masterpieces of the Ming period. The Ming Dynasty ( or Empire of the Great Ming ( was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol -led ^[2]

A landslide dam on the Dadu River caused by an earthquake gave way on 10 June 1786. A landslide dam, debris dam, barrier lake or quake lake if it is caused by Earthquake, is a natural Damming of a River by The Dadu River (大渡河 a tributary of the Yangtze, also known as the Tatu River, is located in the Sichuan province of China. Events 1190 - Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowns in the Sally River while leading an army to Jerusalem Year 1786 ( MDCCLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The resulting flood killed 100,000 people. ^[3]

Sichuan's borders have remained relatively constant for the past 500 years. This changed in 1997 when the city of Chongqing as well as the surrounding towns of Fuling and Wanxian were formed into the new Chongqing Municipality. Fuling District (涪陵 Bồi Lăng is a district of Chongqing Municipality, People's Republic of China. Wanzhou District ( formerly Wanxian or Wan County ( is a district of Chongqing Municipality of the People's Republic of China Chongqing ( Postal map spelling: Chungking; Wade-Giles: Ch'ung-ch'ing) is the largest and most populous of the People's Republic of China The new municipality was formed to spearhead China's effort to develop its western regions as well as to coordinate the resettlement of residents from the reservoir areas of the Three Gorges Dam project. Zh-yue三峽大壩 The Three Gorges Dam ( is a hydroelectric River Dam that spans the Yangtze River in Sandouping,

On Monday, May 12, 2008 at 2:28:01 PM local time, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7. Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common The 2008 Sichuan earthquake ( or " Great Sichuan Earthquake " which measured at 8 9/8. 0 hit just 90km northwest of the provincial capital of Chengdu. As of May 14, the official Xinhua news agency reported: 14,463 people were dead, another 14,051 were missing, 25,788 were buried in the debris and 64,746 had been injured,^{[4][5][6][7] [8]} On May 31, the death toll was updated to 68,467 in Sichuan with a further ~17,000 people missing, and 354,045 injured^[9][10]. Events 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the Events 1279 BC - Rameses II (The Great (19th dynasty becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.

Subdivisions

Main article: List of administrative divisions of Sichuan

Sichuan consists of eighteen prefecture-level cities and three autonomous prefectures:

The eighteen prefecture-level cities:

• Bazhong (巴中 |Bāzhōng Shì)
• Chengdu (成都 |Chéngdū Shì) (Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan Province)
• Dazhou (达州 |Dázhōu Shì)
• Deyang (德阳 |Déyáng Shì)
• Guang'an (广安 |Guǎng'ān Shì)
• Guangyuan (广元 |Gǔangyúan Shì)
• Leshan (乐山 |Lèshān Shì)
• Luzhou (泸州 |Lúzhōu Shì)
• Meishan (眉山 |Méishān Shì)
• Mianyang (绵阳 |Miányáng Shì)
• Nanchong (南充 |Nánchōng Shì)
• Neijiang (内江 |Nèijiāng Shì)
• Panzhihua (攀枝花 |Pānzhīhūa Shì)
• Suining (遂宁 |Sùiníng Shì)
• Ya'an (雅安 |Yǎ'ān Shì)
• Yibin (宜宾 |Yíbīn Shì)
• Zigong (自贡 |Zìgòng Shì)
• Ziyang (资阳 |Zīyáng Shì)

The three autonomous prefectures:

• Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture (阿坝藏族羌族自治州 |Ābà Zàngzú Qiāngzú Zìzhìzhōu)
• Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (甘孜藏族自治州 |Gānzī Zàngzú Zìzhìzhōu)
• Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture (凉山彝族自治州 |Liángshān Yízú Zìzhìzhōu)

Geography

The area lies in the Sichuan basin and is surrounded by the Himalayas (喜玛拉雅山脉）to the west, Qinling (秦岭) range to the north, and mountainous areas of Yunnan to the south. Sichuan, a province of the People's Republic of China, is made up of the following administrative divisions: 21 prefecture-level A prefecture-level city ( or prefecture-level municipality is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China, ranking below a province and Autonomous prefectures are one type of Autonomous areas of China, existing at the prefecture level. Bazhong ( is a Prefecture-level city in north-eastern Sichuan province ( located in southwest People's Republic of China, is the capital of Sichuan province and a Sub-provincial city. Dazhou ( is a Prefecture-level city in north-eastern Sichuan province Deyang ( is a Prefecture-level city in Sichuan province China. Guang'an ( is a Prefecture-level city in eastern Sichuan province Guangyuan ( is a Prefecture-level city in Sichuan Province China. Leshan ( literally meaning "happy mountain" is a Prefecture-level city located in the Sichuan province of the People's Republic of China. Luzhou ( most well-known for its Alcoholic beverages, is a Prefecture-level city in Sichuan Province People's Republic of China, with Meishan Sichuan ( formerly known as Meizhou (眉州 or Qingzhou (青州 is a Prefecture-level city with more than 100000 inhabitants in Sichuan Mianyang ( is the second largest city in Sichuan Province located in western China. Nanchong () is a Prefecture-level city in the north-east of Sichuan Province of the People's Republic of China, with an area of 12479 kilometers Neijiang ( is a Prefecture-level city in the central Sichuan Province in south central China, with a population of about 548000 the largest city after This article deals with the city of Panzhihua in Sichuan China Suining ( should be pronounced as) is a Prefecture-level city within mountainuous Sichuan province in the South of China. Ya'an ( is a Prefecture-level city in the western part of Sichuan province of the People's Republic of China. Yibin ( is a Prefecture-level city in south central China, in southern Sichuan Province located at the junction of the Min and Yangtze Zigong ( ancient name Ziliujing and Gongjing is a Prefecture-level city and the third largest city in Sichuan Province, in southwest China. Ziyang ( Prefecture-level city in the Sichuan Province in south central China, with more than 100000 inhabitants The Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture ( Tibetan: རྔ་བ་བོད་རིགས་ཆ་བ༹ང་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ་ Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture ( Tibetan: དཀར་མཛེས་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ་, Wylie transliteration Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture ( Simplified Chinese: 凉山彝族自治州; Pinyin: Liángshān Yízú Zìzhìzhōu Yi: ꆃꎭ Niep Sha, The Sichuan basin ( Chinese: 四川盆地 is a lowland region in southwestern China. The Qinling Mountains ( are a major Mountain range located mainly in the Eastern province of Shaanxi, in China. The Yangtze River flows through the basin and thus is upstream to areas of eastern China. The Minjiang River in central Sichuan is a tributary of the upper Yangtze River, which it joins at Yibin. The Min River ( 岷 江 Pinyin: Mín Jiāng is a 735km-long River in central Sichuan province China. Plate tectonics formed the Longmen Shan fault, proceeding under the north-easterly mountain location of the 2008 earthquake

The climate is highly variable. The Longmenshan Fault is a Thrust fault which runs along the base of the Longmenshan Mountains in Sichuan province in southwestern China. The 2008 Sichuan earthquake ( or " Great Sichuan Earthquake " which measured at 8 The Sichuan Basin (including Chengdu) in eastern half of the province experiences a subtropical monsoon climate with long, warm to hot, humid summers and short, cool to cold, dry and cloudy winters, with China's lowest sunshine totals. The Sichuan basin ( Chinese: 四川盆地 is a lowland region in southwestern China. ( located in southwest People's Republic of China, is the capital of Sichuan province and a Sub-provincial city. A monsoon is a seasonal prevailing wind which lasts for several months The western areas have a mountainous climate characterized by very cold winters and mild summers, with plentiful sunshine. The southern part of the province, including Panzhihua, has a sunny, subtropical climate with very mild winters and hot summers.

Bordering provinces: Chongqing Municipality, Tibet Autonomous Region, Qinghai, Gansu, Shaanxi, Guizhou and Yunnan. Chongqing ( Postal map spelling: Chungking; Wade-Giles: Ch'ung-ch'ing) is the largest and most populous of the People's Republic of China The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR also called Xizang Autonomous Region (བོད་རང་སྐྱོང་ལྗོངས་ Wylie: Bod-rang-skyong-ljongs (青海 qīnghǎi is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake. ( is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. ( Postal map spelling: Shensi) is a north-central province of the People's Republic of China, and includes portions of the Loess ( also spelled Kweichow) is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country

Politics

Main article: Politics of Sichuan

The politics of Sichuan is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China. The politics of Sichuan Province in the People's Republic of China is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in Mainland Mainland China, Continental China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term synonymous with the area that is under the jurisdiction

The Governor of Sichuan is the highest ranking official in the People's Government of Sichuan. The politics of Sichuan Province in the People's Republic of China is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in Mainland However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor has less power than the Sichuan Communist Party of China Provincial Committee Secretary, colloquially termed the "Sichuan CPC Party Chief". The Communist Party of China ( CPC) ( also known as the Chinese Communist Party ( CCP) is the founding and ruling political party of the In the Politics of the People's Republic of China, a party chief (Chinese 党委书记 variously called a party boss, and officially termed the Communist Party

Economy

The capital of Sichuan, Chengdu. ( located in southwest People's Republic of China, is the capital of Sichuan province and a Sub-provincial city.

Sichuan has been historically known as the "Province of Abundance". It is one of the major agricultural production bases of China. Grain, including rice and wheat, is the major product with output that ranked first in China in 1999. Commercial crops include citrus fruits, sugar canes, sweet potatoes, peaches and grapeseeds. Sichuan also had the largest output of pork among all the provinces and the second largest output of silkworm cocoons in China in 1999. Sichuan is rich in mineral resources. It has more than 132 kinds of proven underground mineral resources of which reserves of 11 kinds including vanadium, titanium, and lithium are the largest in China. The Panxi region alone possesses 13. ( Postal map spelling: Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in western China with its capital in Chengdu. 3% of the reserves of iron, 93% of titanium, 69% of vanadium, 83% of cobalt of the whole country.  ^[11]

Sichuan is one of the major industrial bases of China. In addition to heavy industries such as coal, energy, iron and steel industry, the province has established a light manufacturing sector comprising building materials, wood processing, food and silk processing. Chengdu and Mianyang are the production bases for textiles and electronics products. ( located in southwest People's Republic of China, is the capital of Sichuan province and a Sub-provincial city. Mianyang ( is the second largest city in Sichuan Province located in western China. Deyang, Panzhihua, and Yibin are the production bases for machinery, metallurgy industries, and wine respectively. Deyang ( is a Prefecture-level city in Sichuan province China. This article deals with the city of Panzhihua in Sichuan China Yibin ( is a Prefecture-level city in south central China, in southern Sichuan Province located at the junction of the Min and Yangtze The wine production of Sichuan accounted for 21. 9% of the country’s total production in 2000. Great strides have been achieved in accelerating the development of Sichuan into a modern hi-tech industrial base by encouraging both domestic and foreign investments in electronics and information technology (such as software), machinery and metallurgy (including automobiles), hydropower, pharmaceutical, food and beverage industries. The auto industry is important and a key sector of the machinery industry in Sichuan. Most of the auto manufacturing companies are located in Chengdu, Mianyang, Nanchong, and Luzhou^[12] . Nanchong () is a Prefecture-level city in the north-east of Sichuan Province of the People's Republic of China, with an area of 12479 kilometers Luzhou ( most well-known for its Alcoholic beverages, is a Prefecture-level city in Sichuan Province People's Republic of China, with Other important industries in Sichuan include aerospace and defense (military) industries. This article is about the field of research and industry for the corporation see The Aerospace Corporation Aerospace comprises the A number of China's rockets (Long March rockets) and satellites has been launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, located in the city of Xichang. A Long March rocket ( is any Rocket in a family of Expendable launch systems operated by the People's Republic of China. This article is about artificial satellites For natural satellites also known as moons see Natural satellite. The Xichang Satellite Launch Center (XSLC ( also known as Base 27 （二十七基地） is a People’s Republic of China Space vehicle launch facility Xichang is the capital of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, in Sichuan, China. Sichuan's beautiful landscapes and rich historical relics have also made the province into a major center for tourism.

The Three Gorges Dam, the largest dam ever constructed, is being built on the Yangtze River in nearby Hubei province to control flooding in the Sichuan Basin, neighboring Yunnan province, and downstream. Zh-yue三峽大壩 The Three Gorges Dam ( is a hydroelectric River Dam that spans the Yangtze River in Sandouping, A dam is a barrier that divides waters. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water while other structures such as Floodgates, Levees ( Postal map spelling: Hupeh) is a central province of the People's Republic of China. The plan is hailed by some as a Chinese effort to shift towards alternate energy sources and to further develop its industrial and commercial bases but others have criticised it for its potential harmful effects, such as massive resettlement of residents in the reservoir areas, loss of archeological sites, and ecological damage.

Sichuan's nominal GDP for 2006 was 863. 8 billion yuan (US$111. 6 billion), equivalent to 10,574 RMB (US$1370) per capita. In 2006, the per capita net income of rural residents reached 3,013 yuan (US$350), up 7. 5% year-on-year. The per capita disposable income of the urbanites averaged 9,350 yuan (US$1,048), up 11. Disposable income is Gross income minus Income tax on that income 5% year-on-year. ^[13] In 2007 its GDP stood at 1. 05 trillion yuan (US$150 billion) accounting 4. 3% of the national figure. ^[14]

Foreign trade

According to Sichuan Department of Commerce the provinces total foreign trade reached US$11. 53 billion in the first 10 months of 2007, which is a year on year increase of 29. 4 percent. Exports reached US$6. 87 billion, with a year on year increase of 29. 7 percent, while imports were at US$4. 66 billion with a year on year increase of 28. 9 percent. These achievements were accomplished due to the significant change in China's foreign trade policy, acceleration of yuan appreciation, increase of trade incentives and increasing production cost. The 18 cities and counties witnessed a steady rate of increase. Chengdu, Suining, Nanchong, Dazhou, Ya'an, Abazhou, Liangshan all saw an increase of more than 40 percent while Leshan, Neijiang, Luzhou, Meishan, Ziyang, Yibin saw an increase of more than 20 percent. Foreign trade in Zigong, Panzhihua, Guang'an, Bazhong and Ganzi remained constant.

Minimum wage

Sichuan government raised the minimum wage in the province by 12. 5 percent at the end of December 2007. The monthly minimum wage will go up from 400 to 450 yuan, with a minimum of 4. 9 yuan per hour for part-time work, effective Dec. 26 2007. The government also reduced the four-tier minimum wage structure to just three tiers. The top tier mandates a minimum of 650 yuan per month, or 7. 1 yuan per hour. Federal law allows each province to set minimum wages independently, as long as it's at least 450 yuan per month.

Transportation

Expressways

On November 3, 2007, Sichuan Transportation Bureau announced that the Sui-Yu Expressway has been completed after three years of construction. Events 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim Caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. After completion of the Chongqing section of the road, the 36. 64 kilometer long Expressway would have connected Cheng-Nan Expressway and form the shortest expressway from Chengdu to Chongqing. ( located in southwest People's Republic of China, is the capital of Sichuan province and a Sub-provincial city. Chongqing ( Postal map spelling: Chungking; Wade-Giles: Ch'ung-ch'ing) is the largest and most populous of the People's Republic of China The new express is 50 kilometers shorter than the pre-existing road between Chengdu and Chongqing, it has cut the journey time between the two cities down by an hour, to two and a half hours. The Sui-Yu Expressway is a four lane overpass with a speed limit of 80 kilometers. The total investment was 1. 045 billion Yuan.

Demographics

Tibetans as a main ethnic minority group in Sichuan.

The majority of population is Han Chinese, who are found scattered throughout the province. Han Chinese ( are an Ethnic group native to China and by most modern definitions the largest single Ethnic group in the world. Significant minorities of Tibetans, Yi, Qiang and Naxi reside in the western portion. The Tibetan people are indigenous to Tibet and surrounding areas stretching from Central Asia in the North and West to Myanmar and China Proper The Yi people (own name in the Liangshan dialect ꆈꌠ official transcription Nuosu, nɔ̄sū; the older name " Lolo " or " Luoluo " The Nakhi ( endonym ¹na²khi) are an ethnic group inhabiting the foothills of the Himalayas in the northwestern part of Yunnan Province Sichuan was China's most populous province before Chongqing was carved out of it, making Henan the current most populous. Chongqing ( Postal map spelling: Chungking; Wade-Giles: Ch'ung-ch'ing) is the largest and most populous of the People's Republic of China Henan ( is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country However, when including migrants, Guangdong has a higher population than Henan. Guangdong ( EFEO: Kouangtong; Pinyin Guǎngdōng; Postal map spelling: Kwangtung) is a province on the

It was the 3rd most populous sub-national entity in the world, after the Uttar Pradesh, India and the Russian SFSR until 1991 when the Soviet Union was dissolved, as well as only 1 of 4 (Uttar Pradesh, Russian RSFSR, Maharashtra, and Sichuan) to ever reach 100 million people. Uttar Pradesh (उत्तर प्रदेश اتر پردیش pronounced, Translation: Northern Province) referred to as '''U India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Maharashtra ( Marathi: mahārāṣṭra, IPA) is a state located on the western coast of India. It is currently 6th. This is a list of the most populous first-level administrative country subdivisions in the world in order of Population (estimated 2004) with the top

Culture

See also: Szechuan cuisine and Music of Sichuan

The Li Bai Memorial, located at his birthplace, Zhongba Town of northern Jiangyou County in Sichuan Province, is a museum in memory of Li Bai, a Chinese poet in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Szechuan cuisine, Szechwan cuisine, or Sichuan cuisine ( is a style of Chinese cuisine originating in Sichuan Province of southwestern Sichuan is a Province of China which has a long history of both folk and classical music. Jiangyou ( Chinese: 江油 Pinyin: Jiāngyóu is a Chinese city located in Mianyang, Sichuan, with (as of 1999 approximately 222000 inhabitants It was prepared in 1962 on the occasion of 1,200th anniversary of his death, completed in 1981 and opened to the public in October 1982. The memorial is built in the style of the classic garden of the Tang Dynasty.

Languages

Most dialects of the Chinese language spoken in Sichuan, including the Chengdu dialect of the provincial capital, belong to the southwestern subdivision of the Mandarin group, and are therefore very similar to the dialects of neighbouring Yunnan and Guizhou provinces as well as Chongqing Municipality. Southwestern Mandarin ( also known as Huguang (湖广 is a Dialect of Mandarin Chinese widely spoken south of the Yangtze River, and ( also spelled Kweichow) is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country Chongqing ( Postal map spelling: Chungking; Wade-Giles: Ch'ung-ch'ing) is the largest and most populous of the People's Republic of China Typical features shared by many southwestern Mandarin dialects include the merger of the retroflex consonants /tʂ tʂʰ ʂ/ into the alveolar consonants /ts tsʰ s/, the merger of /n/ and /l/, as well as the merger of /ɤŋ iɤŋ/ into /ən in/. In Phonetics, retroflex consonants are Consonant sounds used in some Languages (They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consonants Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior Alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets

The prefectures of Garzê and Ngawa (Aba) in western Sichuan are populated predominantly by ethnic Tibetans, who speak the Kham and Amdo dialects of Tibetan. Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture ( Tibetan: དཀར་མཛེས་བོད་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ་, Wylie transliteration The Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture ( Tibetan: རྔ་བ་བོད་རིགས་ཆ་བ༹ང་རིགས་རང་སྐྱོང་ཁུལ་ The Tibetan people are indigenous to Tibet and surrounding areas stretching from Central Asia in the North and West to Myanmar and China Proper Kham Ke (ཁམས་སྐད་ Wylie transliteration: khams skad) refers to the Tibetan language dialects spoken Tibetan refers to a group of languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering South Asia as well as by overseas The Qiang and other related ethnicities speak the Qiangic languages, which are part of the Tibeto-Burman languages. Qiangic is a Language family of northeastern Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in Tibet and some other western areas of China. The Tibeto-Burman family of languages (often considered a sub-group of the Sino-Tibetan Language family) is spoken in various central and south Asian countries including The Yi of Liangshan prefecture in southern Sichuan speak the Yi language, which is more closely related to Burmese; Yi is written using the Yi script, a syllabary standardized in 1974. The Yi people (own name in the Liangshan dialect ꆈꌠ official transcription Nuosu, nɔ̄sū; the older name " Lolo " or " Luoluo " Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture ( Simplified Chinese: 凉山彝族自治州; Pinyin: Liángshān Yízú Zìzhìzhōu Yi: ꆃꎭ Niep Sha, Yi (also Moso Lolo Noso etc) is a family of closely related tonal Tibeto-Burman languages spoken by the Yi people. The Burmese language (မြန်မာဘာသာ myà̃mà bàθà MLCTS: myanma bhasa) is the official Language of Burma. The Yi scripts, also known as Cuan or Wei are used to write the Yi languages Classical Yi Logogram A syllabary is a set of written symbols that represent (or approximate Syllables which make up Words A symbol in a syllabary typically represents an optional

Colleges and universities

• Sichuan University (Chengdu)
• Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (Chengdu)
• Southwest Jiaotong University (Chengdu)
• University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (Chengdu)
• Southwest University of Science and Technology (Mianyang)
• Sichuan Normal University (Chengdu)

Tourism

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

• Dazu Rock Carvings, listed as property of the Chongqing municipality
• Huanglong Scenic and Historic Interest Area
• Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area
• Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area
• Mount Qincheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System
• Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries

Sports

Professional sports teams in Sichuan include:

• Chinese Basketball Association
  • None
• Chinese Football Association Super League
  • Chengdu Blades
• Chinese Volleyball League
  • Sichuan Volleyball Team
• China Table Tennis Super League
  • Sichuan Quan-Xing Table-Tennis Team

Twin states

• Washington (state), USA (1982)
• Michigan, USA (1982)
• Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan (1984)
• Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan (1985)
• South P'yŏngan, North Korea (1985)
• Midi-Pyrénées, France (1987)
• North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (1988)
• Leicestershire, England (1988)
• Piedmont, Italy (1990)
• Pernambuco, Brazil (1992)
• Tolna County, Hungary (1993)
• Valencian Community, Spain (1994)
• Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium (1995)
• Barinas State, Venezuela (2001)
• Friesland, Netherlands (2001)
• Almaty Province, Kazakhstan (2001)
• Mpumalanga, South Africa (2002)
• Jeollanam-do, South Korea (2004)

See also

• 2008 Sichuan Earthquake
• Eight Immortals from Sichuan
• The Good Person of Sezuan
• List of laojiaos in Sichuan

Footnotes

External links

• Sichuan Government website
• Sichuan travel guide from Wikitravel
• Reports on China Sichuan earthquake 12/05/2008